Happy Meals
by Fray the fish
Summary: After leaving Camp Half-blood, Nico is on the streets without food or anyplace to go. When a stranger comes up to him offering a free meal, Nico can't help but accept.


**I, the great and all-mighty Fray the Fish, surprisingly do not own Percy Jackson, Hetalia, or the main setting of this fic, McDonald's.**

Instead of studying for exams, I'm writing this piece of art. The Percy Jackson plot might be a bit inconsistent because I haven't read the books in years, but it should make sense. Same goes with any of the things that happen at McDonalds. I haven't been there in years.

 _After leaving Camp Half-blood, Nico is on the streets without food or anyplace to go. When a stranger comes up to him offering a free meal, Nico can't help but accept._

Happy Meals

"Hey kiddo, you okay?"

Nico jerked his head up at the sudden voice and met a pair of cerulean eyes looking at him and a blinding white grin. "I'm fine." He replied sullenly, looking back down at the ground. He could see the stranger's boots on the ground in front of him move back a few feet, and then the man's knees. He huddled into his coat more when the man did that, desperate for more shielding from the cold and also trying to hide himself from the man's prying eyes. It wasn't a single moment after he did that before his stomach let out a large growl against his will.

"You sure about that, kid?" The man said. "The name's Alfred F. Jones, you?"

"Why does it matter to you?"

The man let out a small laugh. "Why not tell me your name? I'm just trying to be polite here."

"Nico. My name's Nico."

"Nico," the man said, his large grin softening into a gentle smile, "Well then Nico, you seem to be in the need for some food. Luckily, I know the perfect place." Alfred then proceeded to grab Nico's hand and pull him onto his feet.

"I'm not hungry." Nico protested. Unluckily, his stomach chose this time to release yet another growl, this one louder than the first.

"Come on, I'm taking you whether you want to come or not." They, mostly Alfred with Nico being a rather unwilling accomplice, started to make their way through the streets, passing multiple buildings and making turns at a very rapid pace. Alfred suddenly stopped and before Nico could recover his bearings, Alfred covered Nico's eyes with his hands. "We have arrived at the most awesome of all restaurants in all of the universe. Prepare yourself, for you will soon know ultimate food nirvana at," he uncovered Nico's eyes, "McDonald's!"

Nico blinked and saw that the supposed 'most awesome restaurant in the universe' was very similar to quite a few buildings he had passed in the past few weeks. A yellow and red color scheme and a large yellow double arch above to doors. "This is food nirvana?" He asked, expecting to have arrived at a fancy restaurant, not a building he had already seen multiple times before.

"Dude! Have you never had McDonald's before? "

"No..." Nico replied, slightly confused.

"Come on, I shall enlighten you!" Alfred said with a bright smile and dramatically entered the restaurant. A small jingle rang when the door opened and they got in line behind the person making their order. Alfred then looked at a screen above the counter with different foods and prices, Nico doing the same. He recognized most of the foods, but wasn't sure why they were there. "See anything you want?" Alfred asked.

"Umm," Nico replied, slightly overwhelmed by the amount of options.

"Don't worry, dude. I got 'cha." He stepped forward and looked at the cashier. "I'll have a Big Mac with a large soda and a four-count nugget Happy Meal."

"Will that be all sir?"

"Yup!"

"That'll be eight dollars and thirty-three cents. Your food will be right with you, sir."

"Thanks!" Alfred said with a bright grin on his face. "Hey Nico, why don't you go get us a table while I wait for the food?"

"Sure," Nico said subdued. To any other person, he would be a bright fire of passion and vengeance, ready with an abundance of snark, but Alfred was different: the look in his eyes, his confident stride; he made Nico nervous. It was almost like being in the presence of Dionysus; though their personalities were different, they were both able to exert an aura of power underneath their flippant attitudes. Nico found a table in the back and sat down, fiddling with old straw wrappers left by the previous patrons.

He whipped his head up when a loud clatter hit the table. "Here you are! Your first ever McDonald's meal, sure to be the best meal ever." Alfred directed his wide grin at Nico and nudged the Happy Meal towards him. "Go on," Alfred urged, then taking up his own and starting to eat it.

Nico grabbed the bright red box and looked at it suspiciously. He opened it and peered inside, taking out and small cardboard container, fries, and what looked to be suspiciously like a Mythomagic card wrapped up in plastic. He studied the card first, a sad frown appearing on his face. Although he had given up the game, he felt some nostalgia associated with it as well as the death of his sister. He set the card down and inspected what looked to be the main part of the meal: the cardboard box. He opened it and found what laid inside to be. . . chicken? He looked at it with a queer expression on his face. It smelled good, but what was it?

"Go on dude, eat your nugget." Alfred said, halfway through his own burger.

Nico looked at the nugget? once more and then took a small bite out of it. It was actually not that bad. While it didn't compare to the high-class food he had at the Lotus Casino nor the comforting homemade Italian dished his mother used to make, it provided him with a strange sort of happiness, not coinciding with the less than superior taste.

"Nico! That's got to be the first smile I've seen on you the whole day!" Nico touched his face. Turns out he was smiling. "Told cha'. McDonald's makes everything better."

Nico continued eating his nuggets, then moved onto the fries. They were much better than the nuggets. After he was done eating, Alfred made a motion to initiate conversation.

"Nico."

"Yeah?"

"How you feelin'?"

"Not hungry?" Nico responded, more of a question rather than a statement.

Alfred chuckled. "Not that kind of feeling."

"Well," Nico squirmed, uncomfortable under Alfred's gaze. He felt like a was back at the moment when he first met Alfred, but now not feeling scrutinized for his physical wellbeing, but his mental.

"It's okay. I understand. I'd just like to let you know that no matter what happens, you'll always have a home. No matter how far deep down in the dumps you are, America will be there for you, after all, what would I be without you?"

They walk out of the restaurant together. Alfred bids Nico farewell and enters the throngs of people moving down the street. Nico blinks Alfred's mop of blonde hair disappears, seamlessly joining with the people as the move along the sidewalk, merging with the traffic, the lights, and most of all, the people who walked down this street, now not seeming as many, but one.


End file.
